The Summer of Nothing to See Here continues for the NFL, and for the NFL Players Association.
It started with the inexplicably hidden collusion ruling. It has continued with, for the NFL, the partial acquisition of ESPN and the notion that the league won’t influence ESPN’s coverage (any more, of course, than it already does). For the NFLPA, the collusion-ruling revelation became the first domino that triggered dramatic change at the top of the organization.
However, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The union continues to operate in secrecy, not transparency. The sudden resignation of executive director Lloyd Howell resulted in the surprise decision to dust off a flawed search process — and to hire the guy who finished second in a two-man contest.
David White arrived with questions of his own. After we pointed out that it would be fair and appropriate, given the questions regarding the internal vetting of White, to activate an external review of his record, someone who knows White called me to vouch for him. I eventually explained that these are concerns that White or someone else from the union should be addressing with me directly.
So I reached out to the union with a request to interview White. I was told it would be noted in the existing requests. That was 11 days ago.
If the goal was to answer the questions and to address the documented concerns, it would have happened by now. The more logical reality is that the decision was made that it’s better to do nothing.
It’s about kicking the can, for only 18 more days. Once the assembly line of bright, shiny objects starts cranking out 272 regular-season games, any attention that would be devoted on a widespread basis to union issues will plummet. (The feds may not be so easily distracted, of course, when it comes to the whole “union dues funding strip-club field trips” thing.)
As it relates to the strangest aspect of White’s time with the SAG-AFTRA union, real questions remain. In 2015, Deadline.com reported that White “misled the union’s board of directors about the union’s attempt to whitewash An Open Secret, director Amy Berg’s explosive new documentary about the sexual abuse of child actors in Hollywood,” and that he “also misled the board about the union’s threat to sue her and the film’s producers.”
In a nutshell, White claimed at the time that SAG-AFTRA hadn’t threatened to sue Berg. Berg said otherwise, while also producing the letter she received. The NFLPA concluded, in information provided to the Washington Post, that it has “reviewed this issue closely and feels confident that it has been fully briefed on the facts and context.” The NFLPA also told the Post that the “core issue was focused on the unauthorized use of SAG-AFTRA’s name and brand in the film,” and that SAG-AFTRA “requested that no inaccurate references to SAG-AFTRA be made that tied the union to any alleged misconduct out of context.”
Basically, the NFLPA concluded that SAG-AFTRA threats of litigation potentially aimed at taking the steam out of a documentary about the sexual abuse of child actors was a nothing burger.
Enter Pablo Torre. In the fourth episode of his effort to shine the light on the various maneuverings of Howell, JC Tretter, and White, Torre takes a closer look at the situation. Watch it, and draw your own conclusions.
The easiest conclusion is that questions remain, as to White’s hiring as interim executive director, the recent decision to put in-house counsel Heather McPhee on paid administrative leave, and the overriding issue of whether White will successfully parlay an interim gig into the permanent job.
In a nutshell, the strategy of secrecy that someone at the NFLPA hatched in connection with the search process resulting in the hiring of Howell seems to still be in place. The strategy seems to be about circling the wagons. The strategy seems to be about doubling down on bad decisions. The strategy seems to be about taking advantage of the fact that the rank and file hasn’t been paying attention. And by all appearances won’t be.
Will that change? To do that, someone needs to stir things up. Someone other than reporters, because part of the strategy also seems to be painting the media as the enemy.
As it relates to efforts to hide important facts and/or to pursue potentially improper objectives, the media usually is the enemy of those who prefer to achieve their goals without interference. Because the media asks uncomfortable questions and/or presses for inconvenient truths. Still, it’s going to take something other than the media to get the members of the union to start asking uncomfortable questions and/or pressing for inconvenient truths.
Again, will that change? The clock on that ever happening is ticking.